Oneiric
by theunknownAyatsukiKuroshima
Summary: One happy-go-lucky guy. One girl who knows nothing of her past. One chance at love - but first they have to fight beyond their pasts. Wait for Me has finally been rewritten! Many thanks to Kirorokat for being such a lovely beta!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: And it's back! This is the rewritten version of Wait for Me. Please notice that very little is changed about this chapter – I decided I kinda liked it as it was. So I made some small changes, but most of the changes will be in the next two chapters and beyond. And, in case you're wondering, Oneiric means dreamlike. I randomly came across it on m-w . com and fell in love with it. So it became the title. Later you will see that it fits extremely well. 3 ya!

Oh yeah, almost forgot.

**Disclaimer: ** I don't own it. Because if I did, that would mean I rocked at drawing. Which I don't. I own only my OC and the plot, which comes from my strange, nocturnal mind. -- Kuroshima Ayatsuki, aka Aya-chan.

_**Chapter One: Obscure Encounters**_

A beautifully girlish figure lay in an alley, bruised and unconscious, as the criminal who had rendered her so fled, not completely unseen by his victim or any other being nearby.

__--__--__--__

Thick-fringed eyelids fluttered open, revealing dazed blue eyes as the once-unconscious girl came to. Sitting up slowly, she examined her surroundings. An alleyway, and a dirty one at that, engulfed her small frame. _Where am I?... Wait a second... WHO am I?What's my name? I can't remember anything... why not?_ she thought. Trying desperately not to panic, she began searching herself for clues to her identity. She noticed a horrible pain in the back of her head, but brushed it aside as best as she could. She knew that she should not pass out here, not again.

She wore black, leather pants, form-fitting at the top, and flared below the knee; black and gray shoes that were loose, but not enough to hinder movement; a fitted black halter top; and a simple black jacket that came down to about her mid thigh. She also had black arm warmers, likely due to the chilly autumn air. She lifted a pale hand up to her hair: it was in a loose bun, except for the longer red bangs hanging next to her right eye, falling into it occasionally. Around her waist hung two... gun holsters?! Yes, it was true; a slim, black leather holster hung off each hip, packed with slim, matching guns.

She pulled one of the guns out carefully and examined it, still looking for clues. She instinctively knew that it was thinner than most models, and any fool could tell that it was plated in genuine silver. The silver had ornate engravings on it, including the kanji for "sea" and "cloud" on opposite sides. Overall, it looked custom-made and expensive. She slid it cautiously back into its holster, then realized that there was something wrapped around her lower legs, under the flare of her pants.

Lifting the flared ends up to her knees, she found other surprises: a knife sheath on her right leg and a dagger sheath on her left, both outfitted with weapons. Trying not to freak out, she rolled her pant legs back down. She had no pockets anywhere on her; no wallet, no dog tags, not even a tattoo or piercing. She took a deep breath, trying to figure out what she should do. Should she go to the police? Should she see if there was someone or somewhere nearby that she recognized?

Before her thoughts could get farther than that, she heard the sound of a gun cocking and felt cold metal against her head, in a different spot than the throbbing ache. She heard a rough, half-masked voice behind her. "Give me anything of value you have, and I'll let you keep your life. NOW!"

The red-headed girl was terrified, but found her body reacting instinctively. Her pale arms reached up and grabbed the gun before her would-be mugger could shoot. She used it as leverage to pull herself up, twisting it out of the guy's hands as she did. She pulled the gun completely out of his hands, then threw it over her head towards the garbage cans at the closed-off end of the alley. Still acting purely on instinct, she pulled out the gun that hung from her right hip, shot twice at her attacker's legs, shocked as her arms easily absorbed the recoil from the near silent shots. _What the...?_ As, her attacker fell down, injured but alive, she noticed that she felt no remorse, and no desire to puke at the blood that now stained the man's black sweatpants.

"That was just **slightly **stupid of you. Most muggers-to-be have an accomplice, don't they? Or did that go out of fashion?" It took her a moment before she realized that the cold voice she heard was issuing from her own throat. She turned on her heel, leaving the attacker behind, thinking as she went.

_Okay, so, I have in my possession two custom-made, silver-plated, specially-silenced guns, three knives all hooked together on a ring, and a dagger. I'm used to holding and firing guns, as well as the sight of blood. I am capable of killing; I honestly could have killed that man, if he had done more to deserve it. Who... or what... am I?! _she thought, desperately. She slid the gun expertly back into the holster, still a bit shell-shocked and still hurting, though she showed neither.

When her eyes adjusted to the bright light of mid-morning, the girl looked around. She seemed to be in a small town with some nice scenery and pleasant shops. It was a warm and clear day, and several people were enjoying an early lunch on the patio of a cafe down the road.

Then, just across the street, she saw someone who seemed vaguely familiar. How she knew him, she couldn't be sure, though. He was young and tall, with spiky brown hair, a black choker with a bell on it, and the Roman numerals for thirteen tattooed over his left collarbone. He wore a blue jacket with four donut-looking things on it, with a plain white shirt underneath, accompanied by well-fitting pants of the same color blue as his jacket. He was accompanied by two people she didn't recognize: a taller, somewhat older man with greenish hair, an eyepatch and a fedora; and a teenage girl with long, blond hair.

Acting fast (again on instinct), the red-head crossed the street, hoping that these people would have some answers, might know more about her. She ran up to them and tapped the brunette on the shoulder.

"Excuse me, sir, but do you know who I am? 'Cause I don't, but I recognized you, so-I-thought-you-might." The last bit came out all at once, tumbling out in her excitement. The man looked rather bewildered.

"Umm.... No, I can't say that I do - " The brunette began.

"But I'm sure we can help you figure it out," the green-haired man interrupted, not looking at the now-exasperated brunette who was rolling his eyes. The taller man continued, " I'm Sven Vollfied; this is Train Heartnet, my partner; and this is Eve, our other partner."

As he introduced them, he pointed first to the brunette, then to the smaller blond girl, who had a curious, but somehow almost impassive look to her face. The redhead decided that no child should have that type of look on their face. She smiled at each of them, but had to turn her head pretty far to smile at Eve, and felt another wave of dizziness. She heard a loud gasp from Sven just as a bout of dizziness struck. She grabbed onto the nearest thing to her to keep from toppling over. Unfortunately, the "nearest thing" was a shoulder; Train's shoulder to be more precise.

"You're bleeding!" Sven exclaimed, moving to see her face. She lifted her hand first to her neck, where she had felt something sticky that she had assumed was sweat dripping down, then to the back of her head. More specifically, to the area where the throbbing seemed to originate. She touched it gingerly through her bun, then pulled her hand back in front of her face to look at it. Sure enough, it was stained red from her own blood.

"Heh. So I am," she agreed, almost as if to herself. She felt sore, confused, tired and dizzy again. "Would you know of a place I could get this taken care of?" Loss of blood was beginning to make her arms feel heavy, so she used only the wrists down to indicate her head.

"Yeah, sure. We have a doctor friend in this town, I'm sure he'd help. Just go down that way," Train said, pointing, "then turn left on --,"He was interrupted by a soft hand on his arm.

"I'm dizzy, tired, bleeding, and I have no clue who or where I am. Anyway you could just _show_ me?"

Sven took over. "Sure, come on. You can lean on me if you need to." The girl took his offered arm hesitantly, almost as if she was afraid of it. They began walking, but before they had gotten to the end of the block, she stumbled on air, and struggled to stand back up. As blackness crowded into her vision, she felt strong arms pick her up bridal-style.

--Chapter 1 end--

A/N: So, this is the first rewritten chapter of Oneiric. I hope you liked it! More coming soon, I promise.

Much Love!

~~Aya-chan 3


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This chapter of Oneiric is dedicated to Kirorokat, who encouraged me and got me writing again. And who has agreed to become my plot beta for this story!!!!_**And NO, I do NOT own Train, Sven, Eve, Chronos Numbers, or any other Black Cat characters or organizations!**_

*Train's POV*

The girl began stirring, opening her big blue eyes to see the no-doubt-unfamiliar room. I watched as she looked around, probably trying to figure out where she was. Her head turned as she gazed at the white walls around her, which were blank except for two small, framed, flowered prints. They passed carelessly over the pastel yellow of the dresser and the soft brown of the small writing desk, before landing on me in the doorway.

"Good afternoon. Do you remember me?" I said with as gentle of a smile as I could. Though I could see a spark of recognition in her eyes, I waited until she nodded anyways, intending to continue, but she beat me to it.

"W…w-where am I?" She got out after a few raspy tries at finding her voice, while I was still trying to think of what to say. Why couldn't she have woken up when Sven was here? He's so much better at the whole "bedside manner" thing!

"You're at my doctor friend's house, in the guest bedroom. You passed out from blood loss on the way here. Sven caught you before you could hit your head again, and carried you here." I vaguely thought I heard the front door open and close as I spoke. Sven was probably back from his grocery-shopping trip; he was the only one who could open it softly enough to make me unsure of whether or not I actually heard it.

"Doc treated you as best as he could, but you've still been unconscious for two days. Unfortunately, Doc had to go away on business, but he said we could stay here until you felt better. Said something about it being dangerous to move you."

She nodded her head again, slowly, then tried to speak again. "Um… where's my jacket? And… the g-guns?" She was obviously nervous about asking that last bit. Scared of what we might think, perhaps? I moved closer, grabbing the chair from the nearby desk.

"Your jacket was covered with blood. The princ- I mean, Eve helped get you out of it and stuck it in the washer. She also took care of washing your back off, by the way, so please don't think that either Sven or I are some sort of pervert." I concluded awkwardly, causing a weak laugh to rise from the bed-ridden girl.

"Your guns and arm-warmers we removed to let you sleep more comfortably. The arm-warmers are here," I tapped the bedside table, indicating the drawer. "But I'm afraid we won't be able to give you back your guns until we're sure we can trust you. I'm sorry about that, just a safety precaution y'know." She nodded in understanding as Sven stepped in.

"Ah, good. You're awake. Are you hungry?" She nodded again. "I just ordered some food for us. It should be here in about fifteen minutes or so." Sven paused for a second, hesitating, before continuing.

"I know you probably just woke up, but can you tell us what happened? Anything you remember? We've been trying to find out who you are, but nothing's come up yet." He was obviously a bit nervous about broaching the subject. I could tell, having worked with him for two years, but she probably couldn't.

The young red-head sighed softly, regretfully, as she pulled herself into a more upright position. Sven quickly stood and helped her prop herself on her pillows. Once up, she cleared her throat. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much – I don't know it all myself."

"Would you be willing to tell us what you do know?" I asked quietly.

She bit her lower lip, then nodded. "The first thing I can remember is waking up in a dark, dank alleyway. It smelled strange – I think there were dumpsters there. I'm not sure. I didn't really get the chance to look around much. I was hurting, and I had no clue where I was or even who I was… am. I checked myself for clues, but found no ID or anything. Only weapons. Oh, yeah…."

She broke off suddenly, and pulled herself up further, so she was sitting all the way up. When she had accomplished that, she bent her knees upward towards her chest, then leaned slowly over them. I gasped as she pulled up the left leg of her pants to reveal a sheathed dagger, about 14 inches long and very sharp. As she began unstrapping it, I felt relieved – she wasn't going to attack us.

I could've hit myself. Of course she wasn't! She was injured!

"You forgot some." She handed it to me, handle-first – the safe way. I tucked it in my jacket pocket, next to Hades, as she continued. "There's a sheath on the other leg, too. I'll get that next. Hold onto them until you trust me, or as needed. Anyways… where was I?"

"Alley," Sven reminded her softly as she began working on the other sheath, this one with three 10-inch knives, all hooked together.

"Right. So, after that, A guy came up and tried to mug me as I was figuring out what to do next." She finally got the strap loose and handed that sheath to me as well, before laying back against her pillows as I placed it in the pocket with the other one. "I… I reacted on instinct. Used his arm to get up, disarmed him, shot him twice – calf and ankle. Not fatal wounds, but wounds all the same. But… it scares me that I did that. I know it was self-defense and all, but I felt no remorse… I could've… I could've killed him…I'm not sure that I _want_ to know who I am…. Or maybe _what_ I am."

After a minute, she shook herself, obvious trying to finish the story. "Well, I think you know the rest. I recognized you, Mr. Heartnet, came to talk to you and passed out." She finished with relative calm.

Sven and I were both a little shocked – to say the least. He got over it faster than I did.

"Ok. Very little to go on, but we can make it work. It may take a while, though. In the meantime, would you like to stay with us?" A little warning would've been nice. He must have seen the shock on my face, for he quickly amended, "at least until we find out where you came from? I mean, we already have Eve travelling with us; I'm sure she wouldn't mind having another girl along semi-permanently, especially one around her age. And that way, we could protect you and help you recover your memories as best as we can."

I could understand his logic, but a sweeper's life had no place for a kid. The princess was okay – she could protect herself. But another one? Another mouth to feed?

Still undecided about this, I glanced over, intending to look at Sven. But as I saw our guest looking over at me, hesitation etched in her young features, my decision was made. I smiled reassuringly, trying to convey that I was okay with it, just shocked. In truth, I was anything but. It was hard enough protecting myself and Sven and making sure Eve didn't overreach her abilities. Could I stretch to cover one more? My thoughts were interrupted by her soft-spoken response.

"Um… sure, I guess. I mean, if it's really ok and not a problem. I don't want --"

"Great! It's decided then!" Ok, so I was faking. Sven might be able to tell, but the girl wouldn't. "And you don't have to be so formal. Just Train's fine. Mr. Heartnet makes me feel like an old geezer." She smiled, still hesitant. "Now, I do believe I heard something about food! Is it here yet?"

Right as I said that, the doorbell rang, followed by a call of, "I got it," from the princess, who had been reading in the living room. Sven walked out to help her carry it, coming back laden with food a minute later. There was somehow an unspoken agreement to eat in our guest's room, now that she was awake. Maybe we could even find out if she knew her name, so we could stop calling her "the girl" or "our guest."

"YAY! Let's eat!" Sven shook his head, laughing, as the redhead smiled. Eve just began passing out the food. I went and grabbed two more chairs, for Sven and Eve, and a long, polished board to go across the railings of the bed as a table for our guest. When I returned, we sat down to eat.

Eve immediately turned her pointer fingers into silverware, causing a yelp from the other teen. Sven and I winced; we had grown so accustomed to Eve's transforming powers that we had forgotten to warn our guest.

"Don't worry. Eve is a super-human, basically. She has millions of tiny machines in her that allow her to change shape. Within limits, of course. Sorry we forgot to warn you." Sven said with an apologetic smile.

"I-i-it's ok. Startled me, though." She took a drink of the water that Eve had brought in with the food, as we started eating.

In between bites, Eve politely asked the question I had meant to ask: "Do you have a name?"

The answer came when the older girl hesitated. "I'm sure I do… Just… not one that I can remember…" She finally answered quietly.

"Then, can you think of something we should call you?" Sven asked after finishing the last bite of his meal.

More hesitation. "No. I don't know. You guys can pick something." She was obviously wearing out now. Perhaps we'd pushed her too hard in the short hour she'd been awake. She was still recuperating, after all.

"Hmm…" Sven started, obviously thinking. "I don't have any ideas. Names aren't exactly my specialty." I guess it was my turn then.

"Um, what about Pili?" Sven thought for a minute, then shook his head.

"What about Riko? I thought this might happen, so I looked a few names up. Riko is foreign, Japanese specifically, but it means 'logical child'. I think it fits." Eve piped up.

"Hmm… almost…. What about RiMI? Switching the part that means child for 'beautiful'?" Sven suggested warmly.

"What do you think?" I asked the girl on the bed, catching her in the middle of a huge yawn.

"I think it works… I kinda like it…" She answered calmly once she finished yawning.

"Okay, then. That's settled. Rimi, you should probably know that we do a lot of travelling. You'll room with Eve wherever we go, ok?" She nodded in understanding, as she scooted back down in the bed.

Since it looked like Rimi would be asleep before the conversation got too much further, I decided to speak, "Um, Rimi? We're going to need to change your bandages before you go to sleep. I know you're tired, but can you sit up again in another minute or two? You can go to sleep once I finish, I promise." She sighed, but nodded. "Ok, I'll be right back."

Eve left the room behind me, probably headed back towards the living room and her latest book. I headed towards the small kitchen, where Doc had left the supplies. I picked up the small jar of pain-relieving ointment, the clean bandages, and a soft towel, and set them on a tray before looking for a large bowl for the water. I found one, after rummaging through the cupboard, and filled it up with warm water before setting it on the tray.

I carried the tray carefully back into the room and set it down on the side table, next to the half-drunk glass of water. Rimi was more or less asleep, still exhausted from the amount of blood she had lost. Sven caught my eye and mouthed, "I'll help," before sitting on the edge of the bed, slipping a supporting arm behind her and gently sitting her up. She immediately flopped forward against him, causing us both to chuckle softly.

I unwrapped the old, bloodstained bandages from her head and set them aside before grabbing the soft towel and moistening it in the water. I dabbed it gently against the wound, grimacing as the sleeping girl flinched against Sven's shoulder. Whatever had caused this had done some serious damage to her. It was a miracle she had only lost her memory and some blood. She could easily have had brain damage, or lost her life.

I gently finished cleaning and re-bandaging her head, marveling at how relaxed and unguarded her face seemed when she slept. Awake, her smile seemed forced, but asleep, her face seemed so content, except when a pained wince crossed as I hit a more tender spot. Sven lowered her back onto her pillows, then pulled the light blanket up over her gently.

We walked softly out of the room, and I closed the door behind us. We joined Eve in the living room and sat down to talk, with Sven and I silently communicating not to tell Eve about the other weapons. We had not had a chance to talk about this situation yet – I had been doing some solo sweeping to raise some money to pay Doc back, while Sven and Eve took turns watching over Rimi. I often took a shift in the late evening, but Sven had wanted to get out for a bit today, so I came in earlier.

"She's... strange. She looks so young, but I think she's more frightened of herself than she is of us. She seems used to fighting. She almost smells like a killer, but not quite. Like she could still be redeemed. Kinda like the little princess used to." I said, mostly thinking out loud.

"Could that just be because she was bleeding so heavily?" Sven asked. I shook my head in response.

"No, I don't think so."

"Hmm… Well, there's something else I want you to look at," Sven said as he pulled out one of the guns we had confiscated earlier and handed it to me. "Look how small these guns are. I've never seen any this small."

"Me neither," I agreed. "Especially not plated in silver like this. Think they're custom-made?"

"Probably. They're slimmer than normal, too. They're made to be inconspicuous in a holster, but eye-catching otherwise would be my guess."

Eve, ever the observant one, saw something I had missed. "Hey, what's this? Isn't this… um… kanji! Kanji, hidden among the engravings?" I looked closer at it; it was.

Sven sighed. "Yeah. I noticed that earlier and looked it up. It's the kanji –"

" 'Ume,' right? Or 'kai'? Meaning 'sea'?"

"Yeah. You pick that up from a book, Eve?" She nodded.

"Is there one on the other one?" I asked, curiosity piqued.

Sven looked thoughtful. "I didn't check." He pulled the other gun out, examining the side of it. "Yeah, there is. Look there." Eve and I leaned in closer.

" 'Kumo' – 'cloud' if I remember correctly," Eve announced after a moment.

" 'Cloud' and 'sea'. Strange combination…" I remarked, puzzled.

"Yeah. I wonder what it means."

"Who knows. I'm getting sleepy. I'm gonna go to bed." I replied, heading off to the kitchen to grab a bottle of milk, as Eve returned to her 900-some-odd page book (which she was almost done with). Sven didn't respond, probably still pondering the mysteries behind the guns, if the furrowing of his brow was any indication.

It would probably invade my dreams, too. But I wouldn't let him think I was worried about it.

-Fin- 

A/N: 2, 600+ words later, and here is the end of Chapter 2. Everyone should give lots of love and praise to Kirorokat for getting me writing again. And agreeing to beta!! I'll try to get Chapter 3 up much faster than this one. 

Much love!

~~Aya-chan33


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N:** Please don't kill me for the beginning!!! It's sad but it was necessary! And many thanks to all who reviewed, favorited, or added alerts. I love you all!!

_Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except Rimi and a creative mind. And a couple other small things. But not much. So no suing, please._

**Chapter 3**

*normal POV*

A shrill scream woke Train from his peaceful slumber. He jolted upright, searching for signs of an intruder. Seeing none, he moved down the hallway, his hand moving towards Hades. He opened up the door to Rimi's room, and his hand dropped back to his side after he flicked on the light.

Rimi was sitting straight up in her bed, ashen-faced and shaking, but otherwise okay. "Rimi, what's the matter?" He asked, concerned but still a bit awkward. Before she managed to begin answering, Sven pushed past Train to sit on the side of the bed, ever the comforting gentleman. Sven wrapped an arm around Rimi's violently shaking shoulders, leaning close to catch her whisper.

"What was that?" He asked, unable to hear. She spoke a bit louder, just barely audible to Train.

"H-h-he," The poor girl was so terrified, her voice didn't seem to want to work. _That must have been one hell of a nightmare, _thought Train. Too bad he had no idea.

"He k-killed h-her. H-he took... a knife... a big sharp knife," here her hands told just how big, "and stabbed her with it. Over and over, t-telling her to sh-shut up and... d-die." Tears were streaming down her face now, making her chin quiver even more. "H-he called her... b-bitch, and..." a soft sob, "whore. And th-then she s-st-stopped m-moving, and w-was qu-quiet. Sh-she stopped c-crying a-and screaming. A-and th-then he came a-after me! B-but someone jumped in f-front of m-m-me and... h-hit him w-with something, something I couldn't see, and, and w-we r-r-ran, b-b-but I was so scared!" She ended with a series of sobs, clinging to Sven like a toddler to a favorite teddy bear.

Train left the room to get the poor girl a glass of water, unsure of what else to do and unable to stand seeing her cry like that. He knew what it was like to have nightmares, and that one sounded as bad as his of Saya or his parents. In the kitchen, though, he saw Eve fixing a cup of hot tea. When she saw his questioning look, she explained. "I read once that hot chamomile tea is relaxing. I had found some in the cupboard here earlier, and thought Rimi might need some now."

"I'll help carry it, Princess." Train needed something to do. Eve allowed him to take the tray of sugar, milk, and honey, once it was fixed, while she carried the actual teacup. They walked to the room in silence, Train behind Eve. Eve used her hair to push open the door, to avoid spilling.

"How about some warm tea?" He questioned softly. Cocoa probably would've been better, but tea was what they had. The girl's sobs had slowed to a hiccup, but her face was still buried in Sven's shoulder. Sven nodded for her, patting her back slowly.

Train set the tray down on the small table, then gently pried the shaking girl off of his partner, helping her to sit up so Eve could hand her the tea. He put his hands around Rimi's trembling ones, and gently guided the cup to her mouth, allowing her to take a drink. After a few sips, her hands ceased their violent shaking. Train pulled his hands back once he was sure she could hold the cup by herself without spilling or burning herself. Train straightened up some, then slowly took a step back.

Rimi took a couple of shallow breaths as she grasped the teacup by the handle and reached for the honey on her bedside table. She flipped the top open and poured a little into her tea, stirring it nervously with the spoon that Eve had provided. After another couple sips, she slowly set it down.

"I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to wake you all…"

"Hey, it's okay. We all have nightmares occasionally. Welcome to the horrific-pasts-gang. I hope you enjoy your stay," Train replied with a slight, caustic smile at the end. She smiled weakly.

"Are you cold, Rimi? Do you need anything else?" Sven asked kindly after sending a was-that-really-necessary look at his partner.

"Um… another blanket would be nice."

"It is pretty chilly in here, huh?" Train commented with a laugh, trying to lighten the mood. "Lemme go see if I can find one." He left the room and could be heard rummaging through the linen closet that was halfway down the hallway.

When he came back with a thick quilt in his hands, Sven was telling a joke to pass the time.

" – and the other muffin screams 'AHH! A TALKING MUFFIN!'" The girls laughed softly.

"Sven, that joke is so old it's maggot-infested!"

"Well, then why don't you tell a better one?"

Train thought for a minute. "Ok. And then we all better go back to sleep – it's 2 in the morning!" They nodded in agreement. He sat down in the chair he had used earlier. All three looked at him expectantly as he began.

"Once there were three vampire bats. They lived in a cave surrounded by three castles. One night the bats made a bet to see who could drink the most blood in half an hour.

The first bat comes home and has blood dripping off his fangs. The other two bats are amazed and asked how much blood he had drunk.

The first bat said, "See that castle over there? I drank the blood of three people." The second bat goes out for his turn and comes back half an hour later with blood around his mouth. The other two bats are astonished and ask how many people's blood had he drunk. The bat said, "See that castle over there. I drank the blood of five people."

The third bat goes out for his turn and comes back covered in blood. This was totally amazing to the other two bats. They ask how much blood he drank. The 3rd bat said, "See that castle over there?" and the other bats nod. "Well," says the third bat, "I didn't."

Sven, Eve, and Rimi all started chuckling heartily, although the latter had shivered when the first mention of blood had come up. Train smirked triumphantly. "Now, Princess, Svenny-baby, let's clear out and let Rimi get back to sleep."

Sven's laughter stopped abruptly, causing Train's to start. "Don't call me Svenny-baby, Train Heartnet, or I _swear_ you're gonna be eating _crackers_ and drinking water for _every_ meal for the next _month_."

Train's laughter stopped. "That's a horrible threat to make, Sven. Horrible. Not even tuna and milk? They're cheap!"

Sven shook his head, causing Train to pout. They stood, and bid good night to the red-head, Eve leaving the door open just a crack behind them as they left.

* * *

The next morning, Train rolled out of bed to the smell of eggs cooking. He assumed Eve was already up, although she rarely made breakfast. He smirked triumphantly in the direction of the bundle of blankets that covered his still-sleeping friend on the other bed in the room – it wasn't often he was up before Sven. He liked his sleep far too much. He dressed quickly, walking into the kitchen with a big yawn.

"Morning, Princ- …. You're not the little Princess. What are you doing out of bed, Rimi?" He addressed the cook.

The redhead had turned, startled, when he spoke, and was now trying to regain her composure. "Um, well, I was feeling better, so I thought I could maybe, um, fix breakfast for us all?"

Train smiled warmly at her, but it was a barely-awake Sven that answered as he entered.

"That's" a big yawn escaped from him, "a nice thought and all, but you really should be in bed a couple more days yet. You just woke up yesterday, and you have a concussion – you should be more careful."

"I know I should've. I was just… restless. And I wanted to do something for you three."

"Restless? That's great! It means you're getting bett-" Train started.

"Did you feel any dizziness when you started moving around?" Sven interrupted curiously.

"Um, a little right at first… Then a little more when Train startled me. I was trying to be careful, really I was."

"I believe you, Rimi. But why don't you sit down for now – I'll finish cooking breakfast." Train volunteered kindly. "It's okay to take your recovery in baby steps. If you overtax yourself, it could take longer to recover your memories."

"Really?" The red-headed girl questioned.

"Really?" Sven echoed.

"Yeah, really. I did a little bit of research on it. You have to let your body heal and try not to stress about what you don't remember before you actually will."

"You did research Train? I thought that was my area…" A wide-awake Eve joined the conversation as Rimi hesitantly took a seat.

Train chuckled good-naturedly. "Morning, Princess."

"Good morning everyone. Rimi, how about I help you change your bandages?"

"Yeah, that's probably a good idea, Eve," Sven asserted as Rimi shrugged. He started getting the coffee machine ready, then pushed the button to turn it on. As the dark brew trickled into the pot, Eve had finished getting the bandaging supplies together and pulled a chair up to sit behind Rimi.

"Wow. Sven, come look at this." Sven came closer to examine the now-open wound, coffee now in a mug in his hand.

"What is it? Is something wrong? Did I make it worse?" Rimi asked in a panic.

"Whoa. It's… almost healed? But just yesterday, it was twice that size…"

"I've heard about stuff like this," Train added over the sizzle of eggs "there are some people who heal faster when they're awake, apparently. Like, once they've been awake, their subconscious tells them that they need to get better, and speeds up the healing process."

"I suppose it's triggered when they feel like they're threatened." Eve added thoughtfully as she gently cleaned the wound.

Train paused momentarily in the middle of scooping the eggs out of the pan. "That's probably pretty reasonable, Princess. I think I did that for a while way back when."

"When what?" Rimi asked as Sven sat down next to her.

Train had to think about that for a minute before he answered. "When I was still at my last occupation, I guess," he laughed as he set a plate of eggs in front of both her and Sven. He scooped eggs onto two more plates and set one in front of Eve, who was almost finished with Rimi's clean bandages, before taking the only empty chair left at the table. "Bon appétit!"

"… What's that mean?" The blue-eyed redhead asked, tilting her head to the side slightly.

"Good eating. In French, where food is the show-stealer!" Train said with a laugh, before taking a bite.

"Man, Train, if you can cook like this, why did you always make me do the cooking on the road? And why did we spend so much money eating out?!"

"Because your food is better, Sven. And eating out is even better than that!" Train answered enthusiastically before taking a big bite.

Sven groaned, shaking his head at his partner's enthusiasm as Rimi started giggling behind her hand.

A/N: So, in my desire to not leave you with a cliff hanger, I think it ends kind of awkwardly. If you wanna flame, go ahead. It will be used to warm me up. If you want to push the lovely button and offer advice and encouragement to a poor authoress trapped in a really cold place that's threatening snow, it will be incredibly appreciated and rewarded with virtual batches of Christmas fudge and hot cocoa. Merry Christmas, all!

By the way, everyone should really love my dad. This chapter was not gonna get posted until January 4th-ish, but my dad let me use one of his laptops! I'll try to get chapter four up around New Year's.... No promises, though.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: … ... …** Can you ever forgive Aya-chan for her procrastinating habits? Hopefully it will get better this summer. I'd like to finish this before Christmas. And my track record for meeting deadlines is So GOOOOOD, right? * Completely sarcastic.* Anyways, at my best estimate, this story will be about 10 chapters long. So six more to go!!

And thanks again forever and ever to my fabulous plot beta, kirorokat. You should all go tell her how much you love her. I know I do – she keeps me on my feet! 33

And here it is.

**Oneiric – Chapter 4**

The day passed uneventfully for Rimi. Eve gave her some books to read while she rested, and everything seemed to be great. The others would _probably_ not notice that while they were out the bathroom was straightened up. And the living room table. And maybe the kitchen… just a little bit! Not that Rimi thought they were slobs, of course; she just wanted to help out. And they really didn't seem to have a lot of time for housework; they always came home exhausted from… wherever it was they went on an almost-daily basis.

This routine continued for several days, almost ten, with Rimi resting less and less and the house sparkling more and more, until Rimi finally decided that she was going to surprise them with something they would notice and hopefully appreciate. She found her opportunity while listening to a casual conversation Train and Sven were having, while Eve was once again reading.

"Hey, Sven? I just noticed that we're low on bread. And milk," Train started.

"Yeah, I'll go get some tomorrow. I don't feel like moving tonight," Sven announced from his sprawled position on the couch. Apparently they had been doing a lot of running around town today. Rimi really wanted to find out what it was they did, but they never seemed to directly mention it.

"Actually, could I go get the groceries tomorrow morning? I'm feeling better, and really wanting to get out of the house for a few minutes." Rimi finally inserted.

Sven and Train shared a look. Or maybe a series of looks -- almost like they were arguing silently. They seemed to reach a conclusion, because Sven said, "Okay. I'll leave the money on the counter when we leave… for work tomorrow morning. And a map to the nearest store. But if you feel tired come morning, you don't have to go. No –"

"need to stress my-/yourself." They finished together.

"Yeah, I know. You tell me that quite often." Rimi said, a bit exasperated.

"Well, I wouldn't if you weren't sneaking around cleaning house when you're supposed to be resting. Not to mention recovering from a serious head injury."

"I did too rest! And you decided yourself that the bandages were safe to come off yesterday, so obviously I'm gonna be okay – physically, anyway." The lack of memories disturbed her greatly.

Sven gave her a look.

"Wait a second… I thought you hadn't noticed that the house was getting gradually cleaner… You mean you did?"

Another look was her only response.

"Hey, cut me some slack! I was bored, just lying around."

Train started chuckling. "Let it go, Sven. We both have been known to do the same thing when we're bored and injured. Or worse. I seem to recall _someone_ insisting on rescuing a little blonde girl who had just recently stabbed him in the stomach on the orders of a deranged man. And you didn't even have time to be bored!"

Sven had the good grace to flush. "That was completely different!"

Rimi shot him an "Oh, really?" look before saying, "It would not seem so," in a voice that could have frozen hell – the same voice she had when she was almost mugged.

Sven cringed slightly at hearing that much coldness in a child's voice. "Anyways… I will leave some money on the table tomorrow morning, along with a map and a list. You really think you'll be okay?"

Rimi's face brightened as she cheerfully answered, "Of course! Thank you!"

Train laughed again, while Sven just said, "Be careful."

**The Next Day**

Rimi heard the door shut over the noise of her shower, and smirked triumphantly. She quickly finished up her morning routine, dressing in an extra outfit of Eve's that had been loaned to her. The ruffly, knee-length black skirt looked different on her than it did on the younger girl, but still looked pretty. The puffed blue sleeves felt awkward and itchy against her arms, and the separate white corset was a little snug, but the high neckline was lined with satin and accented with an attached heart-shaped charm that looked elegant against her pale neck.

She pulled on the pretty blue, knee-high stockings, then used her own black shoes. She ran to the kitchen with a towel wrapped around her still-wet red hair. She memorized the map, then fixed a light breakfast for herself – a one-egg omelet. She checked the clock – was it really only nine? They'd left pretty early today… Maybe they'd been slacking on their work to take care of her? Rimi hoped not, as she ate her breakfast and checked the dryness of her hair. _Dry enough to go out,_ she decided as she ran a brush through it. She tucked the money that lay on the table into the small purse that she had also borrowed from Eve, along with the list and a key that had been under it.

She shut the door and locked it behind her before taking in a deep breath of the fresh air around her. It was the first time she'd been outside in more than two weeks, and although the sun was brighter and the birds were louder than she remembered, the gentle breeze that teased her hair felt wonderful. Rimi began walking the six blocks to the grocery store at a casual pace, just enjoying the morning.

It didn't take long to pick up the groceries that were on the short list – maybe half an hour. Rimi finished her job quickly, and even managed to save a little money. She set down one of the heavy paper sacks to grab a newspaper from the box outside – for Sven. A glance at the date on it told her it was the right one. However, something about the date bothered her. Something she couldn't remember…. She shrugged it off and continued on her merry way, tucking the newspaper under her arm before picking up the bag she had set down. She shifted the load slightly as she walked, but managed to keep it intact all the way to the house they had been staying in. She wiggled the key out of her purse with the hand that was slightly less full, and pushed it into the lock while balancing the bag in that hand on her knee. The door clicked open, and she walked in, kicking it shut behind her.

Rimi walked over to the table and finally lifted her arm away from her side, letting the newspaper drop onto the table. She set the bags down on the counter before unloading them quickly and efficiently. She checked the clock as she tucked the last can of vegetables into the cupboard: 11:53. If the others stayed true to the loose pattern they had set, they would be home in about half an hour. Meaning she had enough time to fix lunch for them. She smiled cheerfully at her perfect timing and began fixing the tuna tetrazzini she had planned and researched in a cookbook she'd found: boiling water, adding the noodles, draining the water off the noodles, adding cheeses, and cooking and adding the tuna to the noodles and cheese. And, true to her guess, the door slammed open as she finished this last step.

"We're BAAAACK!" came Train's cheerful yell.

"Welcome back. Lunch'll be ready in just a couple minutes." Rimi yelled back at a slightly softer volume. Eve came meandering into the kitchen, followed quickly by the rambunctious brunette.

"Aw, you didn't have to fix us lunch, Rimi," Train said, giving her a huge hug before turning to grab a bottle of milk out of the fridge.

"Need any help?" Eve offered with a smile, ignoring Train's latest outburst.

Rimi looked down at the girl she'd come to regard as a sister and grinned. "You can heat up some corn, if you like. Or any vegetable, really." Eve nodded and began preparing a can of corn she just found in the cupboard.

"Aww, Rimi! You're gonna make us eat vegetables? You're no fun!" Train whined as Sven joined them in the kitchen.

"Shut up, Train. Vegetables won't kill you." The green-headed realist answered for Rimi, who was currently dishing up plates of the steaming main dish.

"Hey, Sven, I got you a newspaper while I was out. It's on the table." Rimi's casual statement was accompanied by the clatter of silverware against glass as she sat forks on the plates.

"Thank you." He sat down on one of the wooden chairs and unfolded said newspaper. Rimi slid a plate in front of him, then to each of the other three spots at the table with ease before sitting in one of them. Train and Eve filled the other two as Sven put down his newspaper and began to eat. Again the date caught Rimi's eye, and she set her fork down and rested her head on her hand.

Sven noticed this motion, although Train was too busy eating his fill. "Rimi, what's the matter? Did you push yourself too hard?" Train and Eve paused at their friend's statement and looked at Rimi, waiting for the answer.

"No. It's nothing. Just something about the date is bothering me, is all." Rimi picked up her fork and began eating again. Suddenly an image filled her head. A fancy cake, with pink frosting and several large candles on top, the bottom by strong feminine hands, and smiles, no clear faces, just smiles everywhere.

Her fork clattered to her plate as a smile took over her childlike face. "It's my birthday!"

**A/N2**: Don't kill me for the cliffy! It will hopefully encourage me to work on the next chapter!! And I'm including a short preview into the next chapter, to prove that I intend to work on it!

**Preview**

"You're HOW OLD?" Train's voice got incredibly loud in his shock.

"Uh-huh. Please, oh please can we go celebrate Sven, PLEASE?" Rimi begged, clapping her hands excitedly. No one watching the scene really believed that she was really the age she'd just announced. And yet, somehow it made sense….


End file.
